Chapter 65: The Formation Of Stars
I did my best but after I had left Hao's side I couldn't sleep that night.
I lay on my back in the dark of the front room and listened to the village settle. A dog barked once at the western bank. A child cried somewhere in the Pei compound across the river and was hushed. The wind moved through the bare willows along the bend at the south end of the village. By the third notch of the night, the bell at the garrison had gone silent.
I rose to my feet.
I got dressed in the cloak I had been wearing since I traveled to the cave, and I walked towards the river.
The river was low. The thin film of ice that had been on it the morning we marched to the cave was gone, and the water moved past the bank slow and dark. I sat down on the ground and settled my breathing into a familiar cycle and closed my eyes.
I began to cultivate.
I sensed that the river moved on my left. The wind came over me from the west, and the cold of air pressed against my skin, yet through it all my dantian felt warm in my gut.
When I opened my eyes, I noticed that the stars were out.
I have not looked up in months.